What happened to the Forever Knights? Will Hera get her deserved punishment? Is Ben's torture finally over? Read to find out!
Who in their right mind thought that parking a space-ship inside a lake was a good idea? Polema apparently thought it was a great parking place. Of course this delayed the whole operation of getting the military-grade scrambler, by several days, if not weeks!.
And because this wasn't bad enough, the scrambler wasn't just affixed to the ship as any sane person who wanted to upgrade a space-ship would do. No, the Incurseans found a way to actually somehow build the scrambler around the ship. Which meant he had to disassemble the whole thing. And then built it back together because the owner wanted it back in one piece.
All Khyber wanted was to throw his wrench in the corner and quit. He wasn't even a mechanic! How was he supposed to do all of this? He better get paid overtime for this!
By now, he had been at removing a single panel for four hours. The panel would not budge a single inch. Disappointed he gave it a kick and picked up the wrench in the corner to wedge it underneath the panel and heave it up. Because it worked so well the first time!
It must have been wielded to the floor. Behind him he heard someone cough and immediately knew who it was.
"Raff." he said, not turning around. Raff had been hovering around the garage for a while. It had just been a matter of time until he decided to climb up the platform. The Sylonnoid stood behind the Huntsman and tried to look over the taller aliens shoulder.
"You should use a different, screwdriver." Raff suggested and pointed to his wrench. The alien continued, "It seems you're using a universal T-51 wrench.".
Khyber took a good look at his tool and then glared at the Sylonnoid, "And?".
"It's a well known fact that Incursean ships can't be disassembled with universal tools. You need a specific, I-7-56'er wrench and that panel is wielded down anyways. You have to get access by disassembling the control board first and then-".
The android talked far too much for Khyber. He crudely interrupted the Sylonnoid's instruction with a suggestion. "Why don't you do it?".
"Me? I am a Commander of the Incursean army!" Raff protested, but Khyber already stopped listening, dropped his wrench and went back on the ladder to climb down.
Astonished Raff looked down the ladder and shouted after the huntsman,"But- But I don't even have the right tool."
In response Khyber shrugged his shoulders. Well, that wasn't his problem anymore. In response the android gave him his most hateful glare.
Finally the Zaroffian was able to relax a little while Raff was in the ship trying to figure out what to do. In that moment Khyber's Panuncian ran inside the garage with something oddly smelling and very grey in its mouth. The huntsman, pushed himself off the wall and whistled for his mutt to come over, which obediently strolled over, tail held high. With another command the Panunican dropped its loot revealing a rotting human arm causing Khyber to sneer in disgust, "You have to stop digging up graves.".
He looked up as the door opened again, this time by a mutated human in a black overall and bad dental hygiene who tried to catch his breath.
"You!" Acid Breath exhaled and pointed at the Panuncian, "You have to take better control over your pet! It keeps stalking Zombozo! Give that arm back!".
The mutant took a few steps forwards to retrieve his boss' arm but jumped back as the dog-like extraterrestrial started growling at him. After a loud whistle, the mutt put its tail between its legs and ran off, yowling. After a moment of reluctance Acid Breath quickly grabbed the arm and wanted to turn around before his eyes fell upon the ship, regarding it with a sort of child-like wonder. Khyber followed his line of sight, frowning and unable to understand the human's fascination with it.
After another moment Acid Breath turned around obviously wanting to leave but stopped before he reached the door. There was another moment of hesitation and finally curiosity got the best of him. "Say- um- you've been to a lot of planets?" he finally asked, taking a few steps more towards the huntsman while at the same time keeping a respectful distance.
Irritated the alien exchanged a glance with the mutant, blinking before he affirmed his question. Unfortunately this did not satsify the mutant who continued botehring him.
"Can you tell me more? I mean, how's space? Aren't you- lonely being all by yourself?", the mutant inquired further, fiddling around with Zombozo's arm. The last question might have been a little awkward.
Khyber didn't understand the questions. Wasn't he able to see space from the ground, Earth, on which he lived?
He frowned but decided to answer anyways. "It's-" he tried to come up with an answer. "It's difficult to describe." the huntsman admitted and turned his gaze towards the spaceship. He continued, "I don't understand why you humans are so fascinated with it.".
Acid Breath laid his head queer, "You're not? But- it's space! There are so many different creatures and planets and- and alien cultures and-"
The huntsman shook his head, "Believe me. Once you know one, you know all of them. Everything is the same. All challenges I gave myself turned into disappointments. There's no creature I haven't hunted down yet.". There was some pride in his words yet even so he sounded, disappointed.
"What about Tennyson?" the mutant asked carelessly without thinking.
Khyber perked up, "I had him. Once! No-twice.". Suddenly the huntsman gritted his teeth, "I had him and then I lost him!".
For a moment the human was silent, thinking. "Aren't you calling yourself the best hunter in the galaxy?".
"What do you mean, human?", Khyber growled, not unlike his Panuncian.
"I just thought-" Acid Breath continued, but then broke off. "No- no I have to go." he put up his hands, and took a step back, "My boss is probably wondering why I take so long. Just take better care of your pet!". With those words he left, obviously too scared to finish what he had wanted to say..
Khyber thought about the mutant's words, then he looked at his creature. This wasn't the first time. How people kept referring to the Panuncian as his pet. It didn't really fit. It was not a pet, it wasn't there to be fed by him. Primarily, it was a tool. Like a wrench. Speaking of which: he heard Raff loudly complaining from where he stood.
"It is crucial that you get me an I-7-56'er wrench!" he yelled down at the huntsman, holding up his other wrench. "We're just getting more delayed in the end if I don't have the proper tools! Nobody's going to be happy about that!".
With a sigh Khyber walked closer and shouted back, "And where am I going to get one of those?".
For a moment Raff was silent, trying to think about someone who could possibly have one. Finally he yelled down; "Inspector 13 should have one! I know him. Just tell him I sent you and to put it on my tab.".
Khyber was surprised that someone like Raff knew the Inspector but decided against asking further questions.
He turned around and opened the door as in exactly that moment Polema stepped in. Even though Dr. Animo was not a certified medical doctor the old human had managed to patch her up. Of course they had an actual medical doctor on their team, but Chadwick had refused. To be fair he had a good argument for bringing her to Animo. He was a biologist specializing in animals and Polema was obviously a reptile, making her more suitable for a veterinarian than a human doctor.
Khyber shook his head and concentrated on the current time, "Polema." he acknowledged her and tried to get past the reptile.
Instead of letting him pass she just pushed him back inside the garage and started to complain, "You won't believe what I've just been through! First, I went all the way through the sewers, because we can't use the main entrance anymore!".
Well, that explained the unpleasant smell. That and the fact that she still wore those bloody clothes. Khyber gazed down at the hand on his shoulder and glared hatefully at the reptile who seemed unable to take up on social cues.
"And then she wasn't there! Instead I get a letter!"the reptile continued.
Khyber didn't reply and instead took a step back to prepare to walk around her.
"I can't read! How should I be able to read?" Polema said, stepping once again into Khybers way. "Nobody ever thought me! I need Raff! Where's Raff?" then she frowned at the Huntsman. It seemed as if she remembered what his initial task was. "And why aren't you taking apart the ship?", she finally asked.
Before Khyber was able to answer Raff already jumped out of the cockpit and climbed down the ladder to join them.
"My queen! I was assisting Khyber.", he explained, still holding the damn wrench.
"What?" she seemed quite offended, "You're not supposed to help him! Or- wait- oh right- 'There's no I in team'." she sneered and then turned towards Khyber.
Polema frowned at him,"Listen, just because we are all in this together doesn't mean I have to share my servants with anyone. I just want to get off this rock!".
"My queen it will take a longer time than anticipated." Raff informed her and she demanded to know why stomping her foot down.
With a smile Raff turned towards Khyber, who furrowed his non-existent brows, "Khyber he tried to take our ship apart with the wrong wrench. I told him to get a new one."
Polema blinked, "Then why are you still here?"
"You stopped me from getting out-" he snarled at her which caused her to hiss back at him and Raff decided to get in between them before this was escalating.
"Well, my queen! Maybe if you hand me the letter I can read it to you and Khyber can be on his way to get the wrench!" he suggested and opened the letter she handed to him.
Before he could even say another word Corvo stepped out of the darkness, unanounced, surprising them. The thug had taken a nap in the garage which had been crudely interrupted by the aliens yelling and shouting at each other. Out of curiousity he had decided to stay in the shadows for a while and watch what they were doing. As Polema came in with that envelope, the black haired youth was able to put two and two together. Corvo had spent some time hacking and observing the doctors private conversations and e-mails. While he didn't want to brag, Corvo was actually quite capable when it came to such things.
Nevermind the fact that Fistrick didn't trust the good doctor and told Corvo to keep an eye out for any suspicious behavior.
"I bet I know what's written in that letter." he smirked and nodded towards Raff who was taken taken aback and then frowned.
"Oh really?" the Sylonnoid asked, "Tell me.". He pressed the letter down on his chest as if afraid the youth could take a peek at it.
Corvo swept his hair back which fell back into its old position, "It's not from Anastasia- it's from Chadwick. It's about a change in management.".
The android pulled up the letter and read through it nearly dropping the paper. "He's right!" he exclaimed. After a few seconds he frowned and put it back up squinting at it; "But- what does that mean?".
Khyber shook his head stemming his hands into his hips, "It means that Chadwick is going to take over.". It seemed pretty obvious to him. Most of the time Anastasia seemed high on some sort of precription drug. Arguably, she could have gotten it by othe rmeans, but it was clear Chadwick gave them to her. At first he thought that Chadwick had her health in his mind. But after a few days he realized that Chadwick did not care about anyone but himself. The huntsman rolled his eyes and whistled to call over is alien-mutt. With that guy taking over there was no way he was going to stay on earth any longer.
Frowning Polema turned towards Raff, "We have to renegotiate. A new leader means a new deal. Even if he hates aliens we all know he reverse engineers most of his inventions anyways. He still needs us!". Though this was an argument, with the doctors usual demeanor in mind, raff doubted that this would work. Apparently, Corvo thought so too.
Fistrick's thug laid his head queer, "Jeez, bro. I'm not sure if you can negotiate with that guy. He might just kill you and take all your stuff. Better buzz off as long as you can.". The black haired punk motioned behind them to the ship on the platform.
"The machine isn't ready to fly." Khyber bluntly informed him. He was still not out to get a wrench and with Anastasia as good as dead saw no reason in doing so. The deal was over.
"I think," Raff suddenly remembered, "that we're forgetting an important aspect. Even if Chadwick is going to take over, we still have Hera as a sort of protection.".
Corvo drew his eyebrows together and then shook his head, "She's glued to a wall. Besides, haven't you heard that she gave Charmcaster her okay to kill? Red's already dead, Anastasia's going to die- and who's going to be next? It sure as hell ain't gonna be me!".
The aliens were silent for a moment. All of them knew that this alliance was over.
...
It was early afternoon as Shishkin and Chadwick arrived at the old chemical plant. The first thing she noticed were the lack of cars on the parking lot. "Where is everyone Chadwick?" the Russian asked, concerned.
"They must have gone home." he informed her. Of course they went home, he had given everyone the day off! As the owner he could do something like that. Owning a chemical plant was very convenient when it came to make some people disappear.
Though he sensed some distrust the woman decided not to ask any further questions and instead they went to the entrance. There she was greeted by a man who also wore the same type of armor Chadwick wore though, more steel-gray than gold. She took a small step back.
"Sir Morton!" Chadwick greeted the knight, "You're back from your honeymoon!".
Anastasia Shishkin put on a smile, though her brows were furrowed. "Oh, you got married? How great for you!" she congratulated him. Even though she had no idea who this guy was. All she could gather was that his name was Morton, he was a sir and just got married.
After a while of awkwardly standing around she decided to continue talking. "And who is the lucky bride? Not here?".
"Comedy's back with her brother. Tragedy's leg is still broken." Sir Morton sighed and Chadwick rolled his eyes.
"I could never tell them apart." he mumbled.
"What?" Anastasia asked, turning around in confusion. Who were all those people?
"I was never able to tell them apart. Even worse- they kept switching around their masks when I didn't look. And neither of them was able to talk. Not that it bothered me-". After an inquiring look he explained further, "They were fraternal twins and Forever Knights- actually, they still are!".
"Oh- a boy- and a girl?" she raised an eyebrow "How can you not tell apart a boy and a girl? They were your employees!".
"If you'd see them you would have the same problem." Chadwick waved his hand dismissively, sounding a little offended.
Sir Morton would have liked to add that they did not look so similar, to him at least.
Enough small-talk already! Finally Anastasia demanded that they'd go in. After all they couldn't leave anyone waiting, could they?
They entered and behind her the heavy door closed. As they stood in the entrance hall Chadwick decided to take the lead and the Russian followed. Sir Morton however stopped at the entrance.
Anastasia thought this was very suspect, "Why is Sir Morton not coming with us?"
The doctor kept walking straight ahead and fumbled with a key as they reached the upper floor, "I ordered him to.".
"Why?" she asked again, and the door opened revealing a thin catwalk, hanging several meters over pools filled with chemical compounds.
As Chadwick stepped out she followed him and he couldn't suppress a grin as she jumped a little as the door behind them closed with a loud bang.
"You'll see."
…
Shishkin did not like the direction this was going and as for now they'd waited for at least an hour. "Where's Nicole?" the Russian finally demanded to know. She frowned as he turned towards the clock on the wall.
"She'll be here at any minute. Patience, my dear.", Chadwick reprimanded his ,soon to be dead, partner.
...
After another quarter hour they could hear heavy footsteps and Shishkin noticed that Chadwick had pulled out a helmet which he put on. Where did he store that helmet? Was this one of those foldable helmets? Besides, why did he feel the need to put it on? But before she could ask Nicole opened the door on the other side of the catwalk which shut behind her.
In the first second she seemed confident, but as she took a few more steps the mask of confidence fell.
"Anastasia Shishkin." she said walking a little closer before taking a step back, biting her lower lip. She had second thoughts about all of this. Maybe- this wasn't such a good idea? Her fathers gun was still there in its holster, underneath her arm, hidden by her jacket. As the woman came closer with a wide smile on her face she completely chickened out.
Instead of pulling through she ran back to the door behind her and tried to prey it open, without any success. What the hell? Someone must have locked it!
Quickly she turned around. "Stay back!" she shouted towards the other woman who took a step forward, pulling out the gun.
"I have a gun! I'll shoot!" she threatened, "None of you come one step closer!". The girl was shaking like a leaf in the wind and her voice was just as shaky as her body was.
But depsite the threat, the armored man in the back shoved the Russian out of the way and walked over to Nicole with quick steps.
This was ridiculous, Chadwick thought. His plan was that this little girl, ridden by anger and rage would take her revenge upon the one who tortured her. A classical tale! Instead she got cold feet in the least favorable moment. Seriously, she couldn't even handle a gun!
He shook his head as the gun barrel touched his armor, "I can't believe it- you left the safety on.". With shaky hands the blonde girl looked up obviously confused by that statement. Really? Did Chadwick only deal with nincompoops as of late? Was this some sort of punishment? Moving fast and before Nicole could take another look at that gun in her hand, Chadwick backhanded her so hard the mutant hit the door behind her.
In a swift motion he grabbed her by her hair before she could react and threw her forwards towards Anastasia, who took a small step back in surprise.
As Nicole landed on the metal floor face first she needed some time to get back up and figure out what just happened. Her gun? Oh god, where was her gun?
There! It lay right at Anastasia's high-heeled pumps!
To her horror the older woman picked it up and regarded the weapon before throwing it over the elevated walkways balustrade.
"Oh my-" she sounded concerned, reprimanding teh blonde, "Little girls shouldn't play with guns. That can be very dangerous!".
Nicole crawled backwards as Anastasia stepped closer. Nicole was stopped as she felt the cold metal of the man's armor. Another gun was dropped, landing between her legs.
"Shoot her!", the armored man bellowed and with shaking hands she reached for it. For a moment the blonde girl hesitated, until the Russian started to slowly close the gap between them. It was as if Nicole could smell it again, this horrible mix of chloride and alcohol. WIth shaking hands she held the gun in front of her and as Shishkin took one more step she closed her eyes and fired. The sound of the shot echoed in the large hall and Anastasia had to take a few steps back before sinking down.
Her hand traveled to her stomach, where the bullet hit her. What was once a nice white dress turned dark red in seconds and after a few more the bleeding stopped and they could hear the thud of a small bullet falling on the ground.
With bloddied hands the Russian stood up and started laughing.
"Chadwick! Really?" she opened her arms, "That was your plan? Get me to chemical plant and have little Nicole shoot me? I thought you were smart!".
Glaring at her behind his mask, Chadwick growled, "I am aware of what you are. What do you think is this? Below you? What do you think this plant produces? We're standing on a thin catwalk, a few feet above highly corrosive acid.".
The man looked down. "And you- Nicole- are going to push her down the railing!". The tone in his voice was commanding.
"What you are?" Nicole repeated, not listening to the rest he had to say. In her mind she replayed what just happened and came to a shocking conclusion: "You are- like me? A mutant? B- but why? Why did you do all of this?"
Nicole could feel a hand on her shoulder. It was icehold and heavy. "Look at her Nicole! That's the woman who tortured you! I give you a big chance here! A way to take revenge!", he yelled, his words echoing in the large hall.
"Why did you do that to me?" Nicole asked again ignoring the man above her, still shaking a little.
Anastasia seemed a little taken aback and laid her head queer,"Nicole- look at us. We were made for this! Why else do we have these powers? This gift? To feed people!".
Nicole was clearly disgusted. "You're sick!".
Once again Anastasia started to laugh as Chadwick had finally enough of all this talking. He hoisted up the young mutant by her hair and gave her a kick in the back, shoving her against the Russian who stumbled and hit the short railing, still laughing.
Nicole was bewildered and suddenly panicked as she felt Shishkin's hand on her throat. Or maybe it was just her imagination? Maybe a sudden recall to days gone by?
Either way, the outcome was the same: in a sudden fit she leashed out and backhanded the older woman who leaned over the railing backwards and fell.
It was in a moment of clarity that the blonde girl reached out and barely grasped her by the sleeve of her white furry coat. Nicole didn't want to become a murderer! She wanted to go home! To her mommy and daddy!
As she was still holding on to the coat the Forever King walked up to her. The blonde girl howled as he pulled on her hair and yanked back her head. "Let her go! You wanted revenge!", he commanded, increasing his strength with every word that came from his mouth.
"No!" Nicole screamed, "I don't want this anymore!". She started wailing and crying as he pulled even harder. The girl could have sworn that he wanted to rip off her head! Despite this she still held on, still grasping at the sleeve. But she knew she couldn't hold on for much longer.
"Please!" she pleaded, tears streaming down her face, "I don't want to kill anyone! I was stupid! This was stupid!".
"You should have thought about this before, Nicole!" he snarled, "Your tears won't help you either!".
Though she tried she could feel her strength wane. It just wasn't good enough. For one last time she tried to pull up, but all strength left her and she had to let go.
Just as the fur traveled over her fingertips one last time, Chadwick finally let go of her hair.
"до свидания" the doctor spat down and turned around, while picking off a few strands of golden hair from his armor. Chadwick opened the door and left them alone. The wailing little girl and the dying Russian. Good riddance!
...
At the same time but in another space, between the universes, Ben finally decided to ask the Professor something else before they were ready to leave.
As Paradox buttoned up his shirt Ben, already clothed, walked to a desk, and inspected a rather curious little device. She had noticed it before, right as they walked in. But then, she had been preoccupied with other stuff at that time.
"What's this?" she asked, turning around towards the older man.
Paradox took his coat and walked over to take a glance at the table, then he sighed, "It's- another Chrono Manipulator.". The Professor averted his eyes.
"It looks a little like Eon's device." she stated and they locked eyes. For a moment she was quiet and then she frowned deeply, putting two and two together. "I suddenly realize- Eon got his device from you. You repaired it. But why? Why did you repair it? I thought it was better this way?" she looked up, waiting for an answer.
Paradox turned around and put back his Chrono Navigator, still disguised as his prosthetic arm. Behind him Ben was still waiting for an answer to her question.
"Ben." Paradox stated, "You were the reason.".
The brunette's eyes widened in surprise and as Paradox took a step forward she took one back. "What do you mean: I was the reason?" Ben inquired, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
A smile suddenly appeared on Paradox's face, "As we first met I was confounded. You were my- a bright, shining light in a sea of darkness. Everything about you was just and right. I thought in that very moment that you and all of you were beacons of righteousness. Afterward, I met Ben at the end of another world- Eon."
Paradox stopped for a moment, "I thought all of you were the same- I must have forgotten that despite your nature you're still human- shaped by your experiences. Maybe if I'd come sooner, Eon wouldn't have turned out the way he did. I brought him home with me. He talked me into repairing the chrono manipulator, and I listened. I went off for a while and as I came back- he was gone. And he took it with him.".
He could not decipher the look the brunette gave him. Her eyes were widened and her face tense, eyebrows drawn together. "Did you love him? Me? Us? I-I'm confused, Professor.".
The Professor tensed up gripping the palm of his robotic hand, and locked eyes with Ben. Anxiety, that must have been what she felt right now.
It was a moment of silence between them which stretched out and grew uncomfortably until the oler man opened his mouth.
"I have to be blunt," the Professor admitted, "I didn't think it would ever happen. It just happened. But I knew this couldn't be. All I can do, is watch from the sidelines and try to control the damage I've done.".
The brunette didn't know what to reply. She had expected a 'yes' or a 'no'. Not some sort of cryptic answer, she had to puzzle out.
She averted her eyes, "I want to go home.". The words were softly spoken and her hand wandered to the necklace he had given her as she stepped through the portal. For a change, Paradox did not escort her back.
As she returned, still in her PJ's time seemed to have stopped. Then she gritted her teeth and let go of the green stone hanging around her neck.
She had to go and beat up a Celestialsapien! There was still time to puzzle out the time walker later.
...
It was already noon and the sun set in the distance behind the skyscrapers as Ben arrived at the opera house. Ben walked through the unlocked door into the foyer and regarded the place for a while. Even though it was deserted right now it was clear by the wrappers of chocolat and empty soda cans that there had been people here just recently. There were also powerlines. However, the fact that the powerlines were not plugged out and the doors were still standing open inidcated a hasty retreat. Once she had gotten rid of Hera this place had to be fruther searched but right now she had to figure out where exactly Hera was.
Of course one could easily find what wanted to be found in the first place. The large door which led to the concert hall, opened and a voice seemed to whisper in Ben's ear.
"I've waited, Ben.".
Ben activated her Omnitrix. "So have I. I'm going to beat you into the ground!" she threatened, the stone around her neck started to glow.
Before she could push down the dial however, the building started to shake and break, pillars started to fall and Ben could barely drop and roll out of teh way and stumble outside.
Behind her the building collapsed, black tendrils shooting out of the ground and enveloping it, until it was all but covered in tar-like black substance. Frowning Ben walked closer until she stood so close the tips of her shoes were touching the broken, blackened stones.
As the ground shook once again she held up her Omnitrix and pushed down the dial.
During the moment she changed something happened. The emerald seemed to melt and meddled with Ben and the Omnitrix. But it was far too subtle for Ben to notice until she had fully morphed into Alien X.
Black hands shot out of the debris of the fallen building and curious unlookers quickly dashed out of the way to escape the black tendrils and falling rubble. Hera and Alien X stood there, both staring at each other for a while, until Alien X did something very bizarre and unexpected.
As if in pain the Celestialsapien gripped its head and twisted it off while screaming, until its head fell on the ground.
Hera took several steps back unable to fully comprehend the situation. Even she was freaked out by that horrible display of self mutilation which kept on going. Alien X didn't just stop, no it kept on living and screeching on, while for some reason tearing off its arms which kept regrowing until it stood in a little heap of discarded limbs.
For a while everything was silent and quiet until Hera decided to make the first move and punch Alien X, right into its regrown face.
She was going to do this and then they'd build her a nice big temple, she thought. then she'd be the goddess of this world again!
Unfortunately right as her fist hit the head of the other Celestialsapien, it split open right in the middle and with a horrible howl its maw descended upon her.
Hera was unable to comprehend the situation and neother could any of the spectators brave enough to stay on the street.
Alien X had just turned its head into a large maw and was mauling the pseudo-goddess brutally. It was shoving down her head further and further down, gnawing and biting along the way.
There was little sentience it seemed, left in Alien X, if it was even Alien X!
While it shoved its tormented further down its throat, hera herself had regained some consciousness. No! This couldn't be it! this was hardly a fair fight!
After trying to swallow more of her, Alien X had reached nearly down to her midsection, its belly was oddly swollen. It was then that its stomach expanded grotesquely turning cage like, with Hera trying to reach through the bars before she got impaled by spikes in the cage's insides and crushed as Alien X compressed its own form.
After a long fight Alien X managed to swallow down the rest of her and then the true fight began.
It was one thing to eat a goddess, but as the story of Cronus told us keeping them in was a lot harder. Because now came the hard part, turning Hera into a part of Alien X.
Hera didn't like this at all and fought.
Alien X toppled over as its back suddenly broke open and the pseudo-goddess tried to stretch her arms into the sky. Alien X tried to keep her down. It's own hands turned backwards and tried to shove her back inside, taking its own discarded limbs to stuff the hole she created in its backside.
As she saw that it was useless, she decided to expand her own form, bloating Alien X who fought by trying to press her together. After nothing seemed to work she decided to go all out.
Forming more hands she spread through Alien X' skin, forcing razor sharp fingers through its skin to cut it open, and coloring the ground black. Finally she saw another opening as it opened its maw again and she tried to force her way out the way she came in.
Yet once again it was useless.
As Alien X realized it couldn't close its mouth there was only one way. It bend down and rammed its head against the pavement, cracking it.
After several more minutes it howled and threw back its head. Even though Hera had grown weaker so had Alien X and in a last ditch effort it spread it grew a pair of wings and flew off, crashing into the woods.
...
As the Plumbers finally found Alien X it still was there in the woods, with ichor dripping out of every hole in its body. The ground on which it sat was black and spoiled, black tendrils rasing up and lashing out against anyone who came to close.
One last time it screamed up to the starry heaven and bashed its head down into the ground, at which point a single drop escaped its grasp and with a green flash, brighter than ever before it turned back into Ben.
For a while all of them were silent, until Tack took a brave step forward and laid a hand on her shoulder. Ben however seemed withdrawn. After several more minutes of staring into blank space she opened her mouth, but isntead of words black bile escaped her.
After one more minute she crawled backwards, and in horror she started to scream, grasping at her hair in despair.
Maybe Paradox once again made the wrong choice.